The First Few Years
by ToaofIce
Summary: Annoying in-laws, new homes, pet problems, puberty and... jobs? Matoro, Umbra, Solek may have saved the world... but can they survive being human? Takes place a month after the events in "The Champion of Ice"
1. Settling Down

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

If you have not read "The Champion of Ice" then you need to turn around a read it first. For those of you who have don't worry, "The Warrior of Fire" is in the works, but since I'm in college now it will be easier to work on something short… like this… in between classes and homework and attempting to have a normal social life (being a Bionicle/Lego fan is apparently not "normal" for twenty year olds… is it just me or is the entire world crazy?). Enjoy and please review.

* * *

Settling down

Matoro took a step back to admire his work. The house that he had built for Katara and himself was finally finished. Living in the Southern Water tribe made it easy to build; he just had to use his natural powers to make an ice house. He was a little proud of his work. It was nothing special, but he had made it. Sokka walked by and joined his brother-in-law.

"Wow, that didn't take long." He remarked. Matoro nodded.

"Yup, ice is my thing after all. As soon as I knew what Katara wanted it to look like it was easy." Sokka grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, I hope for your sake that you got it right." Matoro looked at him oddly.

"I should have, this is my sixth try." Sokka's mouth dropped.

"She had you redo it… six times!" he stammered.

"Soon to be seven…" Sokka and Matoro turned around to see Katara coming out of the house. "I think that one bedroom might not be enough." Matoro's smile slowly disappeared.

"But… Katara, there's only two of us. Why would we need more than one bedroom?"

"For the kids of course!" she explained. "It's not like they'll sleep on the floor in front of the fire. No, we need at least two more rooms." She tapped her hand to her cheek thoughtfully. "And the living room could be bigger. And a larger door wouldn't hurt either." Katara continued to list the changes as Matoro drooped lower and lower. Sokka patted his back sympathetically.

"Sorry bro, I think you're going to be working for a while longer."

"I guess it wouldn't occur to you to help me?" he asked bitterly.

"Sorry, I can't use magical bending powers." Sokka smiled. "You're on your own."

…

Solek pulled on the rope and tried to get the roof in place.

"Come on, just a little bit higher." He grunted as his feet pinwheeled in an attempt to move the large wooden roof into position. Tank sighed and put his shoulder underneath it and lifted it up the rest of the way. He went so fast that Solek fell down. "I did it!" Solek cheered. Then he turned around and saw Tank holding it up. "Oh, thanks Tank." Tank nodded and tried to smile. Solek then began to nail in the roof. Toph came by and couldn't help laughing at the structure. Even without seeing eyes she could tell that this thing would fall over if a strong breeze hit it.

"Um, Solek… are you ok?" He smiled and waved at her.

"Hi Toph… what do you think of my house?" he asked.

"Solek… you do know that there are other options to you building a house… right?"

"We, I can't move in with you, so what other options are there?" he asked. Toph tapped her cheek thoughtfully. Suddenly she smiled.

"I have an idea."

…

Umbra took another look at the strange devise that Mai was showing him.

"No."

"Come on Umbra, Sokka built it for us as a wedding gift."

"And that's what worries me. I can get around well enough with a crutch anyway." Mai sighed at her husband's stubbornness.

"Why are you being so difficult?" she asked. "It's not like I'm asking you to wear pink or something like that."

"It's just that… this… this… THING… is so… so…"

"So what?" she asked. "Come on, please?" Mai tried her best to look pitiful. Umbra smiled at her attempts. There was no way that he would ever think of her as weak. He sighed.

"All right, but only because you asked nicely." Mai smiled and moved the wheelchair up to the side of Umbra's sickbed. Umbra slowly and cautiously lowered himself into the chair. Even when he was fully seated he looked at it as if it would explode at any moment. Persuaded that it wouldn't kill him right away he looked up and smiled at Mai. "I guess it will do." Mai smiled.

"Great… now we're finally ready to go." Umbra looked around the room that he had lived in for the past month and smiled. It did feel good to finally get out from the hospital. The only time he had ever left the room in the past month had been for the wedding ceremony a week ago, and even then he had used a crutch to get around. He would never admit it but he hated using the crutch and was secretly glad that he would never have to see it again.

"So, where to?" Umbra smiled as he took his wife's hand. Mai smiled secretly.

"You'll see."

…

Solek looked up at the building that Toph had lead him to.

"Really, why do I need to get a 'job'" he asked.

"Because you need to be able to support yourself, and me, eventually, if you want to live in this world." Toph blushed. "Didn't you have a job in your world?"

"Yeah, don't get killed by a Makuta." Solek said wryly. This earned him a punch in the gut from his violent girlfriend. "Ok," he wheezed. "A job might not be that bad… but what would I be doing?" Toph smiled.

"Let's go ask the owner." She led Solek into the tea shop and walked to the back. Solek could see Iroh busily making tea in the back.

"Maybe this won't be so bad." He thought to himself. At least he liked Iroh. The old firebender looked up and smiled at his two young friends as they came in.

"Toph and Solek, what brings you here?"

"Solek needs a job and a place to stay." Toph explained.

"I built a house!" Solek protested.

"You built three walls and a roof that I bet has already fallen over." Toph smiled. Solek really didn't have a retort for that so he decided to be quiet. Anyway, anything he said could and would be used against him at some point. Iroh scratched his beard thoughtfully.

"Well, I could always use more servers… and I do have an extra bunk at my apartment… I think it's a grand idea." Toph smiled.

"Thanks Iroh, you might want to teach Solek a little about this world as well."

"Like what?" Iroh asked. Toph leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"Like how to hide his arm." She smiled. Iroh took a quick glance at Solek and saw what she was talking about. His metal arm was plainly visible and even now a few of his servers were looking at it uneasily. He smiled and winked at Toph.

"So I take it you and your family has finished moving into your new house?" Toph nodded.

"Yeah, ever since dad got a government position they've been pretty busy, which leaves me a lot of time by myself." Iroh nodded. He knew that this was what Toph liked anyway. Solek finished tying on an apron and walked over.

"Well, I guess I'm taken care of… but what about Tank?" Solek asked. Toph smiled.

"Don't worry, I've got him over at my house with Appa and Momo, he should be fine." Solek didn't look convinced but he obviously wasn't going to win any arguments against Toph, at least, not yet.

…

Umbra looked around in surprise at their new home. Mai smiled happily.

"Now, I know it isn't much… it's actually just a summer home for my family. But at least it's on Ember Island." Umbra shook his head.

"Wow, when your parents said that they would give us a big gift for our wedding I never expected it to be a house!" Mai smiled happily.

"Yeah, it was nice of them wasn't it?" Umbra nodded it looked like after a lifetime of stress and adventure he would finally be able to relax. He smiled and placed his bag down.

"It's good to finally be home." Suddenly the door opened and Tom-Tom ran out.

"Unka Umbra!" he cried happily as he launched himself at the injured guardian. Umbra didn't have time to move before the air was nearly knocked out of him by the very solid two year old landing on his lap.

"I see he learned how to walk…" Umbra gasped. Mai's father and mother came out to greet the couple.

"Mai, Umbra, welcome home." Her father smiled.

"Thanks dad, but, why are you here?" Mai asked.

"We thought that it would be a good idea to get to know your new husband better." Mai's mother said while picking up the wriggling Tom-Tom from Umbra's wheelchair. "And we haven't see you for months dear… we missed you." Mai and Umbra exchanged quick glances… this might not work out the way they had planned.

"But dad…" Mai said. "I thought that you said you would give us some time to get used to the house."

"I did, but I didn't say that I'd let you do it alone." He smiled. "Plus, now that I have a son in law it would probably be a good idea for us to talk about what he plans to do to support you." Mai sighed in defeat. This was not going to be fun.

…

Matoro finally finished the house. He was tired to an extreme; this was his tenth house that day. He had had it. If Katara asked him to rebuild the house one more time then he would most likely go crazy. He turned around to see her looking at the house. She was smiling.

"Now that is a perfect house!" she said happily. Matoro breathed a huge sigh of relief and sat down on the ground.

"FINALLY! I never want to build another house, ever." Katara smiled and helped him up.

"Well, there is a positive side to finishing it…"

"Really, what specifically?" Matoro asked tiredly.

"Why don't you come and find out?" Katara winked seductively at him as she walked inside. Matoro looked after her. He knew what she was trying to do. Sokka walked past carrying some firewood and looked at Matoro.

"So, you finished the house?"

"Yeah." Matoro answered, still staring at the door.

"Sorry about that, Katara can be a little picky some times."

"Doesn't matter." Matoro said.

"Why?" Sokka asked in surprise.

"She's about to make it worth it." With that Matoro walked inside and closed the door. Sokka stared in confusion until he realized what was going on.

"Oh gosh… I did not need that image in my head! Thanks a lot Matoro!" he yelled and walked away trying his hardest to forget what he had just figured out.

* * *

I hoped you enjoyed that, and don't worry. I'm still working on "The Warrior of Fire." but this will probably be updated faster.


	2. Pets and pet peeves

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Pets and pet peeves

Solek was having a surprising amount of fun. Working at Iroh's tea shop "The Jasmine Dragon" was one of the best things that he had ever done. True he had only been working there for a day, but that didn't stop him from liking it. On top of everything else he had discovered that he LOVED tea, especially Iroh's tea.

"I can't believe that we don't have this in the world of Bionicle." He said to Iroh on their way back to Iroh's apartment. "I mean, it's just so good!" Iroh smiled.

"I wish my nephew felt the same way; he thinks it's just leaves in hot water."

"Well, fire lord or not, he's crazy." Solek smiled. "So, how did I do for my first day of work?"

"Quite well, although, there is something we need to work on." Iroh said as they arrived at the apartment.

"Really…" Solek asked. "What?"

"Your arm." Iroh said.

"What about my arm?" Solek asked while looking at it. He was actually quite proud of it and he liked the way it shined on a sunny day.

"A lot of people who come to my tea shop are nobles who remember the liberation of Ba Sin Se… and the part you had in it." Iroh explained.

"Then I should be fine…" Solek smiled.

"Solek, you destroyed over half the noble's district."

"Oh, yeah… but not on purpose!" he objected.

"I know that and you know that but there are many people in the government who already dislike having you and your kind around." Iroh sighed as he began to prepare dinner. "Politicians are a dangerous bunch Solek, if they worry too much about you then your life could be very hard" Solek frowned.

"I don't see how, I am a Bohrok-Kal, it's not like they could attack me."

"Oh, they know better than to do that." Iroh smiled. "But enough about that… how does roast duck sound for dinner?"

…

Matoro awoke and stretched out. He was a little surprised when his arm touched something but then he remembered that he was sharing a bed with Katara now. It would probably be a bad idea to push her out of the bed, even accidentally. He rolled over as Katara started to wake up.

"Morning sleepyhead." He smiled.

"Morning frostbite." Katara laughed. "Do you even realize how cold you get?"

"I told you, I can't help it." Matoro grinned. "At least I don't snore."

"I do not snore!" Katara insisted

"Yes, you do." Matoro smiled.

"I do NOT!" Katara said while hitting him with her pillow. Matoro retaliated and soon a full blown pillow fight was in progress. Katara eventually won because she knew a little secret, Matoro was very ticklish.

"OK! OK! I surrender!" He gasped out between laughs.

"First admit that I don't snore." Katara grinned evilly.

"O… ha ha ha… OK!" Matoro laughed. Katara stopped tickling him and smiled sweetly.

"See, was that so hard?"

"You're pure evil… you know that?" Matoro said as he regained his breath. "I think you might be able to give a Makuta a run for his widgets."

"I'm a lot prettier than one though." Katara said.

"No kidding." Matoro smiled as he kissed her. They then got up and prepared for the day. Matoro had quickly adapted to having to eat every day and had actually gained quite an appetite. "So…" Matoro asked as they were eating breakfast. "What are you doing today?"

"Well, Pakku said that he wanted me to help him train the new students he has." Katara said. "With all of those new families coming from the Northern Tribe there are a lot of waterbenders that need teaching… what about you?"

"Sokka and your dad are supposed to teach me how to hunt." Matoro said. "They said it was an essential skill to have." Katara nodded.

"They're right, it is very important. I'm sure you'll do fine… especially with my dad as a teacher."

"And Sokka, don't forget him." Matoro smiled.

"Let's put it this way, Sokka's going to need some real help if he ever hopes to be the legendary hunter he claims to be." Matoro smiled, he could believe that.

…

Solek walked over to Toph's house before work. He was looking forward to seeing her, but he also wanted to make sure that Tank was ok. He found out his answer as soon as he turned the corner and could see her house. Between Tank, and Appa there was practically no room left in the yard. Tank perked up considerably after seeing Solek walking down the lane and even ran over to give him a big lick. Solek laughed as he was knocked down.

"Whoa boy, no need to get exited… I've only been gone for a day." Toph poked her head out of a window and smiled down at Solek.

"Hey, how'd the first day of work go?" she asked.

"Awesome. Iroh said that they don't open until lunch so I have the entire morning off." Solek smiled.

"Sweet, what do you want to do?" Toph asked.

"Well, I think we should start by finding Tank and Appa a bigger home." Momo jumped on Solek's shoulder and chattered his agreement. "See, Momo likes the plan." Toph sighed.

"I guess you're right, my mom should be happy. She's been dropping hints since I brought them here that it would be a good idea to move them. Just give me a few minutes to get ready." In less than a minute Toph was outside and they took off. Knowing that Tank needed a lot of room, not to mention Appa, Solek suggested that they look outside the inner wall for a place to put them. On their way to the front gate they chatted about friends, how Iroh was doing, what Solek had done for his job the day before, and what Toph's father was doing with his new job. To the casual bystander they would have looked like a normal preteen couple, except for Solek's eye (he was wearing a cloth wrap to cover his arm) and the fact that there was a sky bison, a Kikanalo and a winged-lemur following them. They found the gates open and walked through. With the new age of peace the earth king had declared that all gates of the city were to be opened. Solek was surprised to see a large grouping of fences right outside the city.

"What is that?" he asked.

"It's a zoo." At his confused glance Toph explained. "It's a place where we keep animals that we might not normally see and keep them where we can see them." Solek's eyes lit up.

"You know… that gives me an idea." He smiled.

…

Umbra quickly wheeled into the next room. With any luck he would be able to hide in this one. It wasn't that he didn't like Mai's parents… it was just that he needed a little alone time every now and then. From the second he had awaked he had had to put up with Tom-Tom's screaming and his father in-law's discussions of fire nation politics.

"I almost wish that Zuko hadn't given me that job." Umbra snarled to himself. Zuko had given him an honorary position on the new counsel. A job that, at the time, Umbra had been flattered to accept, he knew that Zuko wouldn't give a job like that to just anyone. All he had to do was appear once a month for a meeting unless he was summoned for an emergency. All in all, a good job, there was a little paperwork that he had to do every week. And Zuko had asked that he watch over the plans that had been salvaged from Mutran's lab and decide which would be worth trying to build. But in reality he didn't have to do that much. If only Mai's father would stop talking about politics. Her mother wasn't much better, she seemed to talk nonstop about the latest gossip in the higher circle of the fire nation. Like how lord so and so's daughter was getting married or how lady what's her name was getting a new hog monkey as a pet. It was infuriating. Sensing that he was alone Umbra sighed. He leaned back in his wheelchair and wondered how he had gotten himself into this mess. He smiled; it was worth it for Mai. Suddenly he saw a flash of red at the window and Lhikan was sitting on the windowsill.

"Oh, hi Lhikan." He said.

"Hi Umbra. Wow, you look down. Are you ok?" the six year old toa asked.

"I could be better." Umbra answered honestly. "How about you?"

"Well," Lhikan started. "I've tracked down and killed about five Rahkshi out of Mata Nui knows how many… so… pretty good, I guess." he smiled.

"Sounds exiting, I kind of wish I was out there with you." Umbra smiled.

"Now, now Umbra, you're happy being married and you know it." Lhikan admonished him.

"Oh, I am, I just wish that I could get some peace and quiet." Lhikan looked at him in confusion. "Mai's family decided that it was a good idea to move in with us for the time being." Umbra explained.

"Ouch, I met them at the wedding." Lhikan winced. "Tom-Tom isn't so bad but his parents…"

"Yeah… I know." Umbra said, holding his head in his hands. "What am I going to do? I don't want to be rude and throw them out of the house, even though they technically gave it to us, I really don't know what to do." Lhikan nodded sympathetically.

"I guess that hunting Rahkshi seems easy compared to dealing with in-laws huh?"

"Lhikan, you have no idea." Umbra smiled. "But, I love Mai… so it's worth it."

"Yeah… I guess it is." Lhikan smiled sadly. "Well, I had better get going, don't want those Rahkshi to get to far away or I could be at this for a while. Don't worry Umbra, things always get better, eventually." With that Lhikan jumped on his lava board and flew away. Umbra watched him go until he was a speck on the horizon.

"Yeah, it will eventually get better… but how long with that take?" Umbra grumbled to himself.

…

The zookeeper was more than happy to house Tank and Appa. He was especially happy with Tank.

"If people don't come to see a giant metal creature fro1m another world then they won't come at all." He smiled happily as Toph finished making the new exhibit. "I only have one question." He said.

"What?" Solek asked.

"What does it eat?"

"Protodermis mostly, but I doubt you have anything like that…" Solek said thoughtfully. "Do you have any high grade metal?" The zookeeper nodded enthusiastically.

"The earth king has been looking for a way to get rid of the drill that the fire nation tried to use to get inside the city. When I tell the guards that I have something that will eat it I'm sure they'll send the metal right over." Solek nodded as looked at Tank. The Kikanalo was exploring the exhibit that Toph had made. He looked at the walls and raised a metallic eyebrow at Solek.

"I know buddy, those wouldn't hold you if you really wanted to leave." Solek laughed. "But this is the most room we could find… and I'll visit you every day before work. It won't be so bad." Tank nodded and sat down. Solek grinned; at least Tank wouldn't be alone. Appa was right next door in a slightly smaller exhibit. Momo jumped from one to the other and finally landed on Solek's shoulder. Toph lightly punched her boyfriend in the shoulder.

"I guess you really have a way with animals, huh?"

"It comes in handy." Solek smiled. Keeping his little, well I am dating one, joke to himself. He wasn't about to get punched again anytime soon.

…

"Just a little closer… come on!" Sokka whispered to himself as he crept closer to the Tiger seal. Matoro exchanged glances with Hakoda. Even with his limited skill he could tell what was going to happen next. Sokka finally jumped and tried to stab the animal. But he had forgotten that the ice was thinner and the seal just whacked the ice in-between them and Sokka fell into the water. Matoro sighed as he helped Sokka out for the fourth time.

"Sokka, you really should have seen that one coming." He grinned.

"Well why didn't you help me?" Sokka asked. "All you needed to do was make a little extra ice and then POW, instant seal jerky." Matoro shook his head.

"Sorry Sokka, but I have to see where the ice is going, I can't just make it appear." They looked up as Hakoda finished killing the seal and Sokka laughed.

"Although I guess that we did provide a nice distraction." He smiled.

"Yes, yes you did." Hakoda smiled. "Now how about you help me haul this beast back to the city?" Matoro looked at it nervously and was shaking.

"Something wrong Matoro?" Sokka asked.

"It's just that… blood… I haven't quite gotten used to it yet." Sokka glanced at his brother-in-law in surprise.

"But you've fought thousands of battles, how can you not be used to it?"

"We… we don't bleed in Bionicle." Matoro said. "I'm… I'm sorry but I think I should go back… I don't think that I can handle this." With that Matoro turned around and walked back towards the city. Sokka looked at Hakoda in shock.

"Could he really be that sensitive?" Sokka asked. Hakoda shrugged.

"Possibly, it doesn't change who he is, it just means that he'll have to get used to it." Sokka nodded. After all, what could Matoro do if not hunt?

…

Solek walked Toph home before going to work. They stopped at her front door to say goodbye.

"This morning was nice Solek; it was almost like we were normal." Toph smiled.

"Well, I tried my best." Solek blushed.

"Tell you what…" Toph said. "After work tonight do you want to go out for dinner, just the two of us?" Solek nodded franticly.

"Yes, yes, yes! I mean… I would like that very much." Toph grinned.

"Good, I would have been worried if you had said no." With that she gave him a kiss, not a little one either. This was the kind of kiss that left Solek standing in shock long after she had stopped and sped inside.

"Wha… um, see you tonight." Solek said quietly at the closed door. He walked off in a daze. Had he been paying more attention he would have realized that his right arm was glowing slightly through the wrappings. And that was definitely not a good thing.

* * *

Hm... I wonder what's wrong with Solek... it's not like puberty would have a negative effect on a Bohrok-Kal like it does humans is it? Nah, that could never happen. ;)


	3. The start of something bigger

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Ok, annoying little thing here, apparently Mai's parents were never given names. I have looked and looked but I cannot find them. And since I am horrible with original names (which is one of the reasons I'm writing fanfictions) I might have to invent some other problem/difficulty for Mai and Umbra to go through.

* * *

The Start of something bigger

Matoro walked back to the city and quickly went home. He sat down on one of the chairs and held his head in his hands. How could blood still affect him like this? He didn't have a problem eating meat… he actually liked it. So why couldn't he kill? He had killed several times in this world, Ozai, the Dai-Lee, Rahkshi… how could he be like this. Was he really unable to fit in? Matoro sighed.

"Maybe Aang was right." He said sadly.

"Right about what?" Matoro looked up in shock and saw Suki poking her head through the door. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, I came over to see if Katara was here."

"She's helping Pakku." Matoro said. "I'm the only one who's here now."

"But weren't you supposed to be out on a hunting trip with Sokka and Hakoda?" Suki asked. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, the hunt was a success." Matoro sighed. "And I found out that I'm useless." Suki came in and sat down across from him.

"Matoro, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I can't stand blood, Hakoda killed a Tiger Seal and I couldn't help them carry it back." Matoro said, holding his head in his hands. "How can I be a good husband for Katara if I can't hunt?" Suki's eyes softened.

"I guess that they didn't have blood in your world." Matoro shook his head. "Matoro, there's nothing wrong with being sensitive."

"But if I can't support her than what will Katara think, hunting was the only thing I was good at back home. Sure I can understand Rahi but that job isn't exactly important in this world. And if I can't work than… then I'm useless." Suki sighed. Matoro was convinced that he couldn't be useful. She stood up and grabbed his arm.

"Come on, we're going to go job hunting." Matoro looked up in surprise.

"Wait… what?"

"You heard me… job hunting. If you want to be useful then you should go FIND something to do, not wait and mope until Katara hits you over the head!" Suki smiled as she pulled him out the door. "Besides, we're related now and we haven't had time to get to know each other, there's got to be a law against that somewhere." Matoro reluctantly let himself be led out the door by his sister-in-law.

"Do you really think that this will help?" he asked.

"I'm positive it will." Suki smiled.

…

Solek cleaned the last table and looked at the sundial, it was almost closing time. Iroh smiled at Solek as he came back into the kitchen.

"Got something planned for tonight?" he asked with a wink.

"Yeah, Toph and I are going out for dinner." Solek smiled. Iroh nodded.

"Well, be sure to clean up before you go." Solek nodded and turned around. He stopped stock still and his mouth dropped open. Iroh looked at him strangely.

"Solek, what's wrong?" Solek slowly pointed Iroh looked at the door and smiled. "Oh, is that it? You shouldn't keep her waiting." Solek nodded and soundlessly began to put his apron away. He walked out of the store and found it hard not to stare. Toph was wearing a dress. He had known that she owned a few; her parents wouldn't let her go anywhere with them unless she was dressed appropriately, but he had never figured that she'd wear one for him. It was green, which seemed to be her color, with silver dragons that framed her body perfectly. And her hair was even done up in a bun above her head. She smiled at him.

"Well, since your heartbeat has skyrocketed I can only assume that you like the dress." She said.

"Um… yeah… me likey dress." Solek managed to get out.

"Wow, I had no clue that I could get you to shut up merely by wearing a dress… I should have thought of this weeks ago." She teased while twirling around and letting him see the whole dress. "Finally one of my mom's fashion ideas worked." Solek shook his head to clear it.

"Wait… this was your mom's idea?" he asked.

"Yeah, don't look now but I think that she might be warming up to you. At least more than dad is anyway. He's responsible for them." Toph gestured to three big guards that stood behind her at a respectable distance and were glaring at Solek. Solek had to smile.

"Yeah, like three humans are going to pose a problem for me." He whispered to Toph.

"I know right? But he wouldn't listen. I think that mom is happy that you can 'protect me' but your power just makes dad more paranoid." Toph smiled.

"So we have an audience… great." Solek said under his breath. "Well, I doubt they want to watch us stand and talk all night so where do you want to go?" he asked.

"There's a restaurant not far from here that my family goes too often, why not there?" Solek nodded and offered his arm to his date. He couldn't think of a time that he had been happier.

…

Umbra was starting to become unnerved. He couldn't even have a quiet dinner now. He met Mai's eyes across the table and could see that she felt the same. Umbra was currently attempting to be interested in what his father-in-law was talking about, which was currently politics.

"So, Umbra, what was the government structure like in your world?" he asked.

"Well, each village has a Turaga that oversees the day to day business. An island is usually ruled by a counsel of those Turaga." Umbra answered.

"So, no king? No one person in charge of everything." Mai's Mother asked.

"No, we feel that giving that much power to any one being is a mistake." Umbra said. He immediately regretted it.

"So, are you saying that you have no faith in our fire lord?" He was asked.

"No, that's not true… I do trust Zuko…"

"Fire lord Zuko." Mai's father pointed out. Umbra resisted the urge to roll his eyes and continued.

"Fire lord Zuko, but that is here. Back in my world it was different. Speaking of the fire lord I had better get going." Umbra said as he excused himself from the table.

"That's right; we have to leave tomorrow to go to the fire lord's first counsel gathering." Mai spoke up. "We had better turn in early tonight."

"Well, we don't want you tired for your trip, go ahead and turn in." Mai's mother smiled. Umbra and Mai nodded and left the dining hall. Once they were in their own room they both breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"Well, not that I don't like your parents… but I think I'm going to enjoy this little trip." Umbra confessed.

"Me too." Mai smiled. "I just wish they would leave us alone for a while… it's not like we're going to run off or something."

"Hmm, running off doesn't sound that bad sometimes." Umbra smiled.

"Now, now Umbra. You know that we'd be caught as soon as they realized that we'd left the house without them knowing." Mai said. Umbra nodded as he slowly lifted himself onto their king sized bed.

"Yeah, with this wheelchair we wouldn't be able to get enough of a head start on them… and there is always the possibility that they'd bug Zuko into tracking us down." He said as he rubbed his left knee, it still hurt sometimes, even a month after losing the lower part.

"Plus, if we were running all the time then we couldn't do this." Mai smiled as she kissed him.

"Now, now Mai… we said we'd go to sleep early." Umbra pretended to scold.

"You know as well as I do that we both used that as an excuse to get away from my parents." Mai said as she pulled Umbra on top of her.

"Well… maybe we could stay up a little later." Umbra smiled.

…

Suki was starting to lose hope. She and Matoro had spent all day long looking for a new job for him and nothing had turned up. He had no skill with healing, he had no desire to help repair or build, and there was no way that he would learn to sew. On the plus side Suki had learned a lot about the silent warrior. Matoro didn't talk much but what he had to say was very interesting.

"Wow, so you knew a ton of secrets that no one else was supposed to know?" she asked.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy." Matoro shrugged. "I always tried to avoid talking to others so that I wouldn't have to worry about letting one of the secret slip."

"So… could you tell me one?" Suki asked.

"No."

"Aw, you don't even live in that world anymore… what's holding you back?" she asked.

"I made a promise to Nuju not to reveal anything I was told unless it was necessary, and it is most certainly not necessary to tell you anything. It's nothing personal; I just take my promises very seriously." Suki pretended to pout but was actually quite impressed that he was that determined not to tell anyone. He probably hadn't even told Katara any of these secrets. They continued to chat until they came up to their houses, which were right next to each other conveniently enough.

"Well, I'm sorry that today was a little bit of a waste." Suki smiled. "But at least we got to get to know each other better."

"Yeah, and Suki… thanks for not giving up on me." Matoro said. "I'm sure that I'll find something to do around here."

"That's the spirit." Suki winked. "Say hi to Katara for me." Matoro nodded and went inside. He found Katara preparing dinner.

"Hi Matoro, where have you been." She asked after giving him a kiss.

"Suki and I had a little 'get to know you' walk today." Matoro smiled as he began to help her.

"Oh, should I be jealous?" Katara teased.

"Not really, we just talked and tried to find a new job for me." Matoro said.

"Yeah, dad told me about today, don't worry Matoro, it's not the end of the world." Matoro smiled.

"I certainly hope not, I've had to stop that twice now."

…

Toph smiled across the table at Solek.

"I don't think that I've ever had a better dinner." She said. "This was the best first date ever." Solek nodded.

"Yeah, considering it was my first, ever." He grinned.

"Wait… you're going to tell me that you never had a girlfriend back home?" Toph asked in surprise.

"Nope, I guess I was just seen as the geek who studied everything about the Toa all day." He shrugged. "What about you?"

"Nah, mom and dad always kept me hidden from the rest of the world." Toph shook her head. "I never made any friends until I met Aang and the rest." Suddenly Toph frowned and leaned closer. "Solek, is something wrong?"

"Um, no why?" he asked.

"Because you're vibrating." Solek looked at himself in surprise and he saw that he was indeed vibrating.

"Um… that's odd… I don't usually vibrate do I?" he asked.

"You're asking me? I've only known you for about three months!" Toph exclaimed as a worried frown began to spread across her face. "Solek are you sure that you're ok?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm…" Solek was probably going to say ok, but he never got the chance. For at that exact moment his right arm folded out into the shield for the Kohrak-Kal.

"Oh no," Toph said quietly. "That's not good."

"Ok, so I might not be tip top shape… but how bad could it be?" Solek asked. He found out a second later as an ultrasonic wave erupted from his arm and broke every piece of glass in a three yard radius… namely, everything on their table and the five tables that surrounded it. Toph quickly grabbed Solek's normal arm and pulled him towards the exit.

"Come on," she said. "We need to get you somewhere without expensive glass!"

"But… we haven't paid!" Solek protested. Toph snarled and threw her checkbook at one of her guards.

"You, pay for the meal and the damages. And you," she pointed at the remaining guards. "Get the family doctor and tell him to meet me at the zoo outside the walls. And you go get Iroh." The guards looked like they were about to disagree with her when Toph raised an eyebrow at them and slowly brought her foot up. Realizing what she could do if she slammed the foot into the ground they took off. Solek looked at his arm in fear. What was wrong with him? And why was this happening? Solek tried to hold in his powers as they ran down the streets but several windows still shattered. Finally they got out of the city and ran over to the zoo. Toph stopped outside of Tank's pen and helped Solek into it.

"What are you going to do?" Solek asked.

"Just stay here. I want to make sure that Iroh and the doctor are coming." She said. "I also want to change into something a little more appropriate than a dress." Solek smiled and nodded as she ran off. Tank came over and nuzzled him lightly. Solek scratched under his horn and shook his head.

"I don't know what I've gotten myself into now Tank, but I don't think I'm going to like it."

…

All was silent in Mai and Umbra's house. Even Tom-Tom was sleeping quietly. Umbra had his arm around Mai and the two of them were sleeping soundly, which was why neither of them noticed the slight movement from within Mai. The movement was so small that no one but an earthbender or possibly someone like Solek who was sensitive to low level sounds could have noticed it. But at that very moment two little beings had come into the world. Mai smiled in her sleep, completely unaware that she had just started down a road that many women take, but none are truly prepared for, motherhood.

* * *

Well, bet you didn't see that one coming. We might be seeing several of the little guys popping up, or not, it really depends on how the story goes. :) And yes… Solek's problem will be explained in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one and don't forget to review.


	4. Doubts

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Wow… I have been AFK for a LONG time. But that's what College does for you. Enjoy and don't forget to review.

* * *

Doubts

Matoro pushed himself farther than he ever had. He could feel his muscles begin to tire and still he pushed on faster. He had already hit his second and third winds and was nearing the limit of how much his body could take. He was hurt; his armor covered in shark bites and little holes from tentacles of squids the size of a small hovercraft. His left leg had bite marks from something that he was sure was not meant to exist in this or any ocean. He had out swum even Hahli in his mad attempt to save the world. The Mask of Life was slowly losing its glow. The silver was being replaced with black. Matoro quickened his pace. He could feel his eyelids trying to close as his limbs slowly became heavy. He shook his head and forced himself to swim even faster. He saw his destination approaching quickly. Suddenly a long red tentacle wrapped around his body and slammed him into the ocean floor. Matoro looked up to see the ugly face of Kalmah roaring at him. Matoro struggled as he tried to reach his goal… but it was too late. Without a sound the Mask of Life changed completely black. Matoro turned around in wrath and slashed at Kalmah's face with his claws. The squid-like Barraki screeched and dropped him. Matoro swam to the entrance and clawed at the now closed hole.

"No… no… this can NOT be happening!" Matoro cried out in desperation. He turned to see Jaller, Hahli and the others looking at him in a mixture of disappointment and rage. Matoro watched in horror as Jaller pointed at him in disappointment.

"You failed to save the world… now you must pay!" With that Jaller stabbed his sword deep into Matoro's chest. Matoro felt the flames burn though his chest as he fell to the ground.

"No… this… is…" he fell to the ground as the last of his life drained from him. Suddenly the world grew dark and a pair of red eyes appeared. Shadow stepped out and smiled. He was followed by Teridax who smiled at the fallen Matoro.

"I told you, one little push… and you would be just like me." Matoro struggled to stay upright.

"But… I…" he tried to say. Shadow laughed and placed his foot on Matoro's chest.

"Killed me? No… you didn't you are an utter failure in every single way!" Shadow drove his hand into the hole in Matoro's chest. "And do you know the best thing?" he asked as he yanked Matoro's heart stone from its casing. "I never really need to beat you… you were too far gone for it to matter anyway!" Matoro felt something he had never really felt before… he felt his soul slowly turn as dark as the Mask he had failed to save. And then all was darkness.

…

Matoro woke up in a cold sweat. He sat up and held his head in his hands. He was alive, he had saved the universe and he had come to this new world. He glanced at Katara just to be sure. She was sleeping peacefully next to him. Breathing a sigh of relief he quietly snuck from the bed and walked into the living room. Putting on some clothes he walked outside and stared up at the sky. He wondered why he was having nightmares. Besides his problems finding something to do he was leading a happy life. He heard a shuffle behind him and turned to see Katara come up behind him wrapped in a blanket.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" he asked as she stood next to him.

"Kind of… I guess I've gotten used to your chill." She smiled. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I had a nightmare." Matoro sighed. "I dreamt that I had failed to save the world of Bionicle and Jaller killed me. Then Shadow and Teridax showed up and mocked me." Katara came up and wrapped her arm around him.

"Don't worry Matoro. This nightmare is just caused by the stress of the past few days." She smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. "Come on, you need your rest, this will all be better in the morning." Matoro smiled and followed her back inside. Be no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get rid of a small core of doubt. What if his dream was right… what if he always had always been one of the shadows?

…

Toph dragged Iroh over to the zoo.

"And then he started vibrating and all of the glass shattered. I took him to the zoo so that he wouldn't do any more damage. I have no idea what's going on with him!" Iroh hurried behind Toph as fast as his legs could carry him. Toph pulled him over to Tank's exhibit and stopped short. While Tank was still sitting down with Appa nearby there was something missing.

"Um, Toph… where is Solek?" Iroh asked.

"I… I don't know!" Toph said quietly. She couldn't sense him everywhere. Even the slight vibration he had been sending though the ground was gone. Iroh saw a small note stuck on Tank's horn and quickly pulled it off and read it.

"Dear Toph… I thought about what happened to me. I know that this letter will hurt you, but I think the best thing for me to do would be to leave. I realize that when you see me again you will most likely beat me senseless. But at the same time I realize that I have little to no control over my powers, powers that could hurt people… hurt you. I am sorry; I hope that we can see one another again someday. Solek." Toph listened in horror as Iroh finished reading the letter. She just stood there open mouthed.

"What… Solek left… I'M GONNA KILL HIM!" She yelled as she slammed her foot into the ground. "Why would he leave?" she asked in a quieter voice.

"I would assume that he thought that it was the best thing for the both of you if he left." Iroh said. Toph shook her head and started walking towards Appa. "Where are you going?"

"Where else? I'm going to go get him back." She said. Iroh caught her shoulder and stopped her.

"Toph, you can't just leave, what will your parents think? And even if you did leave how would you find him? You can't see when you're on Appa." Toph stopped and sighed.

"You're right… I guess. I'll agree to wait until I can get help, but I am going to go after him." Iroh nodded, he knew that was the best he was going to get from the stubborn earthbender.

…

Umbra looked back as Ember Island gladly as it vanished over the horizon.

"Ah, finally, peace and quiet." He smiled to himself. "This trip is going to be… perfect." The breeze gently ruffled his hair as he watched the ocean. There was absolutely nothing that could make this trip go wrong. Sure he would have to work when he got to the capital. But that would take a day at least. That meant that he could relax without a single distraction for the first time in his life. Umbra closed his eyes and settled back for a relaxing nap. But he found that he couldn't relax. Deciding that it must be the breeze he moved to his and Mai's room. Still, he could not relax. Frowning now Umbra tried ever part of the ship he could think of, with the same result. Mai was talking to the Captain when she saw Umbra rolling around the ship in an apparent panic. Excusing herself she went and stopped him.

"Umbra, be careful, we don't want you to tire yourself out." Umbra looked at her with desperation in his eyes.

"Mai… I think we might have a problem…"

"What?" she asked.

"I think that I might not know how to relax!" he said. Mai looked at him for a second and then broke out in laughter. Umbra raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry Umbra… it's just that… it's so funny." Mai smiled as she calmed down. "You finally get some time off and you don't know how to relax."

"Well, as happy I am that you find it funny I am worried that years of LIVING IN A CAVE might have made me incapable of relaxing." Umbra said heatedly as he started to wheel away. Mai caught him and smiled.

"You're not incapable of it, you just need to be taught how to."

"And who is going to do that?" Umbra asked.

"Why me of coarse… I am your wife." Umbra nodded. It did make sense… but something told him he wasn't going to like this as much as Mai suspected he would.  
…

Solek looked behind him. The city of Ba Sin Se had faded from the horizon a long time ago. Part of him wished that he could be back there with Toph, but he knew that until he learned to control his powers he would just be trouble in a big city. And there was no way he was going to ask Toph to come with him. After all, he needed to do this alone. He continued walking west. He didn't know what he was looking for, just that he needed to keep going. He was so focused on his trip that he didn't notice the small tail that slipped out of his pack. Solek might have wanted to go it alone. But he was going to be in for a furry surprise.

…

The large earthbender sat down at the bar and quietly looked around. This small earth kingdom tavern was having a quiet night. It was strange; usually these types of establishments would be full to the brim with farmers who were ready to relax after a long day's work. The only people who were in the tavern were also being unusually quiet. A man in a dark cloak walked over and sat down next to him.

"I see you got my message."

"Yeah, who are you exactly, and how did you know so much about me?" the large man demanded.

"Relax, I'm here to offer you a job, not kill you." The shadowy figure quietly laughed.

"What kind of job?" the earthbender asked cautiously.

"The kind of job that you're good at, Golem." The strange man smiled. Golem felt his spine crawl and almost broke out in a cold sweat at that smile; it was a smile of pure evil.

"Yeah, but what about getting revenge on those who ruined me?" he asked.

"That is the job, but wouldn't it be easier if you had help?" The strange man gestured to a nearby table with three figures. Golem recognized them as three of the members who had been on the ill-fated mission to hunt down the fire lord's son.

"Only three others?" he asked. "That's not nearly enough to take out my enemies."

"True… without my help you would be doomed. But with me, you can regain your lost pride." Golem nodded. This was beginning to sound really good; he only had one more question.

"What's in it for you, why are you helping me?" he asked.

"Because I share the same enemies." The strange man smiled. "And I want them dead." Golem offered his hand and the man shook it. The man smiled to himself, his army was growing. Soon, very soon, Matoro would be dead, and the world would be his.

* * *

Wow, this story might just turn out to be more epic then I had thought. Interesting how that happens sometimes. Don't worry, I will continue updating. Hope you're enjoying this so far and Warrior of Fire should be updated in the next few weeks.


	5. Old Shadows

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Yeah… I know… I'm taking a long time to update things. College will do that to you. But fear not, I am not ending any of my stories yet. And the plot twists that are coming up in both The First Few Years and Warrior of Fire will most likely surprise (and hopefully delight) all of you. Enjoy and don't forget to review.

_Just so you know this is flashback...__

* * *

_

Old shadows

Matoro yawned as he walked out of his house. He had not slept well after waking up in the middle of the night and was still a little tired. He stretched and looked over towards Sokka and Suki's house. What he saw made him freeze. Sokka was standing just outside his house holding a Midak Skyblaster and was going to cut a piece of tubing that he had managed to isolate from the others.

"SOKKA, STOP!" Matoro yelled in horror as he launched himself at his brother-in-law. Sokka turned around in shock as Matoro grabbed the gun and held it as far away from Sokka's dagger as possible.

"What? I just wanted to see how it worked." Sokka said nervously.

"Sokka… do you even have any idea what that tube does?" Matoro asked.

"Um, no… that's why I was cutting it, duh." Sokka said.

"Sokka, let me try to explain this to you… the energy in a Midak Skyblaster is highly volatile. To keep it from exploding the energy must be in constant movement as long as the power source is in the gun. The energy is pumped through this tube so that it never sits, not even when the gun is being used." Matoro explained. Sokka just looked at him in confusion.

"I'm not sure I get it." Sokka said while scratching his head. Matoro shook his head and sighed.

"Well, let's put it this way…" Matoro pointed at the tube. "If this gets cut while the energy is active than half the village goes up in smoke."

"Oh… good thing you stopped me." Sokka said, looking a little embarrassed as he realized what he almost did. "How do you know all this stuff?" He asked.

"It's technology from my home world." Matoro explained. "I was part tech at one point; everyone back home knows how to work with this stuff. Some are better than others, I'm not one of the best, but we still all know what NOT to do. How did you get this stuff anyway?" He asked.

"It came with the rest of the tech that we got from Mutran's lab." Sokka explained. "Remember, each nation got some of it to research what we could make from it."

"Well I hardly think that you're qualified to do this alone." Matoro grumbled as he walked past Sokka and looked at the pile of tech. "You know what… I think I know what I'm going to do. I'll take care of disassembling this stuff and you can think of ways that we can use it. How's that sound?" Sokka nodded happily.

"Yeah! Together we can make a fish seeking spear… or a boomerang that flies by itself… or how about…" Sokka continued taking as he began to help Matoro move the tech. Matoro shook his head. While he was glad to have something to do he wondered what he had gotten himself into.

…

Solek finally sat down. He brushed the sweat off of his forehead and looked behind him sadly. He had been walking for almost two days strait. He had gone in a north western direction in order to avoid the serpent's pass. Solek absentmindedly reached into his bag for some food. He felt around a bit and was surprised to feel a furry body. In a flash he grabbed whatever was in his bag and pulled it out. Solek had to laugh, it was Momo. The lemur looked at him, chattered, and then finished eating the apple that it was holding. Solek broke out laughing.

"Ha ha ha! I guess that's why the pack has been getting lighter and lighter." He grinned. "You must have been eating all of my food." Momo looked at him and then climbed up to his shoulder. "Well… I guess I'm stuck with you. At least I don't have to be alone." Momo chattered happily as he reached into the bag and handed Solek the last apple. "Well, I might have to find some more food." Solek said thoughtfully as he ate. As he finished the apple Solek stood up and continued walking. He wanted to get a significant distance away from Ba Sin Se before Toph found him. Once he did he planned to spend as much time as it took training until he could control his powers. The sun set as he continued walking. He had to do this, for Toph.

…

The cloaked figure knocked three times on a door. It opened and he entered. He quickly walked to the center of the room and bowed.

"I have done all that you asked master." He said without looking up. "The men have been dispatched. They are poised to strike a month from now."

"Good… good, you have done well, Jet." A voice said from the shadows. The crazed freedom fighter looked up and grinned.

"Soon," he said. "soon the fire nation will fall and we will free the world."

"Fool," the voice admonished as red eyes glinted. "This is not about taking out the fire nation… or about ruling the world. This is about revenge!" Jet looked disappointed.

"But the fire nation needs to be brought down!" He insisted. A shadowy tendril shot from the darkness and slapped him.

"Get over it." The voice snarled. "The fire lord is dead; the fire nation is once again at peace with the world. They are no longer a threat to your little idea of peace."

"But they have not paid enough!" Jet insisted. "They have a hundred years of pain to account for!" The voice began laughing.

"You don't count the fact that the Rahkshi almost destroyed their capital as punishment?" It snickered. "You really are bitter, aren't you?" Jet tuned and left. He would never let it show but he was seething in anger. Soon they would all pay, the fire nation, Matoro and Katara… and especially the shadowy figure. Jet promised himself that he would find out who he was, and then he would make him face the same slow death as the rest of the people who had gotten in his way. All he had to do was wait for a month.

…

Katara looked up at the sky in frustration. It had only been a month since Matoro had started working with Sokka on the tech from Bionicle and he had been over there every night since. While Katara was glad that he had found his calling she didn't want him to overwork himself. He had even been too busy to notice Katara's growing midsection. The waterbender grinned as she held the slight bulge around her belly; Matoro was going to be in for a surprise alright. The funny thing was that Sokka had been equally busy and hadn't noticed that Suki was even farther along than Katara. Katara shook her head, boys would be boys.

…

Toph tapped her foot on the ground out of boredom. She had been waiting outside Iroh's tea shop for the last month. She figured that it was the first place that Solek would go when he came back. She sighed sadly as she tried to sense for him once again, and again found nothing. Not even her powers could let her see beyond the walls of the noble's section. She turned to walk home; she could always come back tomorrow. Iroh shook his head as he watched her go.

"Solek had better come back soon, before she really decides to kill him." He thought out loud to himself. Toph slowly continued walking. She was almost back to her house when the ground underneath her changed to sand. Toph frowned as she felt the sand begin to swirl around her feet, this was not good. She quickly tried to earthbend the sand away and found that she couldn't. The sand quickly began to cover her entire body. Toph didn't even have time for one last yell before it had completely covered her up. She struggled as the sand began to move. Suddenly a voice laughed.

"Try to struggle all you want little girl… no one can defeat Devastator!" It proclaimed in a loud voice. With the last bit of her strength Toph forced a hand out of the sand and smashed it into the ground. Devastator snorted as he sensed the girl collapse due to lack of oxygen. Had he turned around he would have seen a message bent into the stone of the road.

"Toph in trouble… need Solek."

…

Umbra couldn't stand it… a month ago they had landed in the fire nation capital and he had entered into a few weeks of meetings with Zuko and the other advisors. While he liked Zuko the rest of the Fire Lord's cabinet enraged him. Only a few of them were truly capable of advising. The rest were rotten brats that had gotten their jobs so that Zuko would have the support of the more powerful families in the Fire Nation. Zuko rarely actually listened to what they had to say, but that didn't stop them. They had quickly noticed that Umbra was one of Zuko's closest advisors. This meant that they thought if they got Umbra on their side that he could sway the Fire Lord. Umbra had just escaped from a pack of them now by dodging into the restricted part of the palace, the Fire Lord's family quarters. Mai and Jin looked up from their talking as the irate Umbra wheeled himself in muttering dire threats to any and all politicians that dared follow him.

"I'll make them WISH that Karzahni had gotten his hands on them!" He snarled as he closed the door behind him and let out a deep breath. Jin giggled and turned to Mai.

"Honestly I don't understand what he's talking about half the time." She smiled. Mai quietly smiled back. The two girls had become good friends in the past month as it became apparent that they had both become pregnant at about the same time. The one major difference was that Mai looked as if she was much farther along that Jin. The doctor had said that she was most likely carrying twins. Mai smiled when she remembered explaining to Umbra what that meant.

"_So… wait… not only is there a little combination of you and me inside of you… there's two of them?"_ Umbra had asked.

"_Yes… it's not very common but it does happen. Usually they come one at a time."_

"_And they're inside of you?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Organics are weird."_ Umbra had insisted as he shook his head. Mai was looking forward to her children being born. The only thing that worried her a little was having to deal with two at once. Umbra finished snarling strange threats at the closed door and took a deep breath.

"Ok… calm down… they can't get you here." He smiled to himself. He turned around and jumped as if noticing the girls for the first time. "Oh… Mai, Jin… I didn't notice you there."

"It's ok, things are pretty bad out there huh?" Mai said while gesturing for him to come over.

"Yeah… as bad as your father was these guys are much worse. I honestly don't know how Zuko puts up with them." Umbra said as he wheeled himself over. Despite his initial mistrust of the wheelchair he had become quite agile with it. Jin smiled as she nodded.

"Yeah, I guess part of being the Fire Lord is dealing with a lot of people you wouldn't normally have to." She smiled.

"Well, there are some perks to it." The three turned and looked as Zuko walked in. He smiled and joined them by the window. "Such as being able to have private apartments that no one who is not wanted can get to." Umbra nodded his agreement.

"Tell you what, why don't we…" Umbra was interrupted by the sounds of fighting outside of the room. Without thinking both Umbra and Zuko were in front of their wives.

"What do you think is going on?" Zuko asked.

"If I had to hazard a guess… we're under attack." Umbra answered with his typical skill for stating the obvious. Before anything more could be said the door was blown apart and three figures entered. One was a giant earthbender covered in rock armor. Another was the mercenary known as Combustion Man, his third eye glowing as he prepared to blast the couples. The third was Jet, a insane grin on his face as he readied his blades and faced Zuko.

"It's payback time." He snarled.

…

Katara had moved to the kitchen to prepare dinner. She was cleaning the fish that her father had caught earlier and given to her when she felt the familiar chill that accompanied Matoro enter the room.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting to tell you something all day…" Katara said as she turned and smiled. The smile disappeared instantly as she realized that it wasn't Matoro that was behind her. The man behind her looked like Matoro, except for the fact that his skin was as black as a night without a moon, and his eyes were as red as blood. The knife that Katara had been holding made a clattering sound as it hit the ground. The man smiled at her as he formed shadow and ice into a scythe.

"Hello Katara… it's been a while, hasn't it?" He asked mockingly.

"Shadow… no…" Katara whispered to herself.

"Oh, yes… ." The copy smiled as it raised the scythe. "I am most definitely back!"

* * *

Well… hopefully most of you aren't groaning to see our good friend Shadow back in action. Don't worry… I have a good explanation for this (Yes… you saw Sokka kill him in The Champion of Ice, or did you?); you'll just have to wait until next chapter to hear it. Don't forget to review and stay tuned.


	6. All will Pass

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

You wanted it… and it didn't happen. Introducing the rematch that you all have been waiting for… Matoro v Shadow!

* * *

All will pass

Matoro walked home after a long day working with Sokka. He yawned as he walked into his house.

"Katara… Sorry I'm late, Sokka will not let go of the 'fish seeking spear' idea." He called out as he entered. There was silence. This more than anything put Matoro on edge. Katara always answered him, no matter what. Matoro quickly drew his Kodachi and stalked into the kitchen. There sat Katara, tied and gagged with shadow energy. Her eyes were wide and frightened, that was not good. Matoro had only seen her this scared once. Matoro crept over to her and slowly began to work on the shadow with small electric sparks. She was struggling and it looked as if she was trying to tell him something. Matoro motioned for her to be quiet and finally got the gag off.

"It's a trap!" she yelled as soon as her mouth was freed. A dark laugh filled the room as a shadow hand grabbed Matoro and yanked him out through the roof. Matoro groaned as he was thrown on the ice outside. He turned to see the last person he ever expected to see.

"Shadow? But… how?" He asked in shock.

"Was my death at Sokka's hands really that convincing?" The copy smiled. "I didn't realize that I was such a good actor… perhaps I should go on the road… after killing you of course." With that Shadow created shadow blades in each of his hands and dove at Matoro. Matoro quickly brought up his Kodachi and blocked the attack. He created a pillar of ice underneath him that launched both of the Toa out of the village. Matoro used his powers to create a slide so that he landed on his feet. Shadow turned the blades into giant wings that carried him down.

"I see you've learned some new tricks." Matoro commented as he took a battle stance.

"Yeah, finally getting out of that Rahkshi body helped. I guess I should thank your brother-in-law for that." Shadow sneered. Matoro charged his Kodachi with lightning and attacked. Shadow's blades were back out in a second and the two clashed. Shadow was grinning like a madman as he blocked and parried Matoro's every attack. "You've gotten good." He commented after barely dodging a stab to his head.

"Yeah… and this time there won't be an eclipse." Matoro retorted as he blocked a mid-height slash.

"Funny thing… I don't need it." Shadow snarled. The two separated and began circling. "Face it Matoro… no matter how hard you try you will never get rid of me." They clashed again. Ice, water, lighting and shadow flying around as they began to use their elements. The ice all around them melted and then froze again and then was shattered as the two Toa clashed.

…

When Matoro had been pulled out through the roof the crash had woken Sokka up from a nap. He had quickly grabbed his boomerang and sword and had run next door. He arrived just in time to see Matoro launch himself and Shadow out of the village. Fearing the worst he ran inside to see Katara attempting to free herself from the shadow bonds.

"Katara! Thank the moon spirit you're ok." He said as he moved to help her.

"I am but Matoro might not be for long." She said without looking up. "Shadow is back." Sokka paled.

"Wait… the Shadow that…"

"Yes."

"And that Matoro…"

"Yes."

"But didn't I…"

"No, Sokka. You didn't." Katara sighed. "Now would you help me get out of these bindings?"

"Oh… yeah." Sokka said as he began to work at them.

…

Zuko viewed the attackers with worry. He knew that Mai and Jin would be incapable of fighting and Umbra wasn't going to be much help from his wheelchair. That meant that he was alone. He stood still, afraid that if he moved at all they would all get blasted by Combustion Man or the large earthbender. Jet however had no such worries. He leapt at Zuko with a crazed smile on his face. Zuko created fire knives and barely blocked Jet's attack. The freedom fighter forced him against the wall and cackled with insane laughter.

"Finally… the Fire Lord is dead!" He screeched as he brought one of his blades back. Suddenly the back wall was smashed by a Rahkshi body. The creature fell between the two sides and a second later Lhikan landed on it and proceeded to blast its head off with a fireball. Breathing hard the six-year-old looked up and took in the room with a glance. Everyone was staring at him.

"Did I miss something?" He asked quizzically.

"You two… get the kid!" Jet screamed. Lhikan raised his hand and his lava board came to him. But instead of using the swords he launched it at Jet, knocking him out of the way and splitting the board into the swords just in time for Zuko to catch them.

"Here, they're still a little big for me." Lhikan smiled as Zuko looked at the blades in amazement. "Just remember I want them back." Zuko looked up as Jet regained his footing and attacked him. Zuko brought the blades up with ease and blocked the attack. Meanwhile Lhikan turned to face Golem and Combustion Man. "So… who wants to play?"

"Really… this is who we have to fight… this won't take long." Golem laughed. Combustion Man didn't even waste a single breath. He quickly powered up his blast and shot it at the diminutive Toa. Lhikan blinked once and razed his hand. The explosive blast stopped and floated in the air a foot from the boy. Combustion Man narrowed his eyes and increased the power in his eyebeam. Lhikan pushed back, hard. There was an explosion that threw Combustion Man out of the room. Lhikan turned and faced Golem.

"Please tell me you have something more original than attacking me with fire." Lhikan joked in a bored voice.

"HOW'S THIS?" Golem yelled as he launched several jagged parts of his armor. Lhikan merely powered up his shield and blocked all the projectiles. While this was going on Zuko and Jet were engaged in a massive swordfight. Zuko was in his element, even though Lhikan's twin blades were slightly larger than what he was use to using they were not any heavier. Jet found himself pushed back again and again as the Firelord proved why he had had such success as the Blue Spirit… he was unmatched in duel sword combat. However, Jet had been practicing since their last fight… and Zuko had been too busy lately with rebuilding the fire nation to practice. He was slowly forced back until Jet had him with his back to the wall, again. Jet quickly pinned Zuko to the wall with his blades and pulled out a Zamor Sphere launcher. He pointed it at Zuko's head and smiled.

"I would just kill you now… but that would be unfair. I want you to suffer." With that he pointed the launcher at Jin, Mai and Umbra. "Time's up Firelord… time for your wife to die like the traitor she is!"

…

Solek sat meditating. He was trying to ignore Momo who was jumping from shoulder to shoulder in an attempt to convince Solek to go find food. Solek had finally managed to stop his arm from vibrating a little over an hour ago. He had found that if he concentrated hard enough it would go away, and the longer he tried the easier it got. Momo suddenly stopped and picked up his ears. He looked off in the direction of Ba Sin Se with interest. Then he started to pull on Solek's ears franticly. Solek sighed.

"Look… if this is another ploy to get food…" Solek didn't finish because he finally heard what Momo was hearing. It was a low bellowing sound that resonated across the plains. Solek had heard it only once or twice before… it was a Kikanalo's call of distress, and since there was only one Kikanalo in this universe that meant one thing. "Tank!" Solek cried out as he leapt to his feet in a panic, in the process dislodging Momo. There were very few things that could bother Tank in this world. And since a Dragon attack was out of the question that meant that Tank himself was fine... someone else was hurt. Solek quickly started running. He didn't even stop to pick up the supplies that he had carried with him. Momo also understood what was going on. He took off and kept pace with Solek as he flew alongside him. Solek ran hard, no matter how he felt about himself being a danger to his friends he was not about to abandon them.

…

The world seemed to slow down. Umbra took in the room in a glance. Lhikan was in the process of hitting Golem with something that looked like a fire blast in the shape of a fist. Jet was pulling the trigger; Mai and Jin had seconds before the launcher fired, if that. Mai had whipped out one of her many hidden knives and was preparing to throw it at Jet. Umbra knew that normally she could make the throw… but not when she was pregnant with twins. Suddenly it hit Umbra… only one person in the universe was fast enough to save Zuko now... him.

"Mata Nui, please… just one more time." Umbra whispered as he launched himself from the chair. "Just one more time." Umbra closed his eyes and concentrated as he swung his fist towards the crazy freedom fighter. There was a flash of light and Umbra heard a screech of agony. Then he hit the ground. It felt as if all of the energy had been drained out of him. Umbra lay sprawled out on the ground as his mind drifted away. Suddenly the world drifted away from him and he felt like he was floating. Umbra felt a hand come and pick him up. To his surprise he saw a boy of about twenty smiling at him as he helped him up.

"Who… who are you?" He asked.

"I… well, that's not important." The boy smiled. "Suffice to say that I'm someone who likes to help people like you."

"Did… did you let me go light particle one last time?" Umbra asked. The boy shook his head.

"No… I am purely an observer. I cannot interact with your world. You always had that one last push in you Umbra. You just needed a good reason to use it. Saving Mai was that reason."

"Oh Karzahni, Mai!" Umbra gasped. "Is she going to be ok?"

"Don't worry." The boy assured him with a gesture of his hand. "Your body is still in the world of the living, only your mind has traveled here to see me. And Mai… well… besides being worried out of her wits about you right now she's fine."

"So… why am I here?" Umbra asked.

"You are here because I wanted to talk to you." The boy answered. "You need to know what is coming. But I can only tell you if you promise never to speak of what I reveal." Umbra nodded. "Good." The two of them talked for what seemed like hours. Umbra often looked as if he didn't believe what the boy was saying. And once or twice he shook his head adamantly as if refusing to accept that something that was said. When the conversation was over Umbra looked at the boy weirdly.

"You are either incredibly smart or so insane you make Vezon look normal." He commented.

"Are they really two different things?" The boy laughed.

"I guess not." Umbra admitted.

"So… will you do as I have asked?"

"I… yes…"

"Thank you Umbra… this means a lot to me." The boy smiled. The boy raised his hand in farewell and Umbra started to dissipate.

"Wait…" Umbra said before he was completely gone. "I… I would like to know your name, or who you are." The boy smiled. His answer would confuse and puzzle Umbra for the rest of his life.

"Who am I? I am but a humble Toa of Ice."

* * *

Well… sorry that took so long to finish. School and life have been pretty crazy lately. Don't worry, Warrior of Fire is almost ready to be updated. Don't forget to review.


	7. Old Friends

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Old Friends

"Umbra!" Mai yelled as the former guardian fell to the ground. She was relieved to see that he was still breathing. The shock of partially becoming a light particle must have been too much for him. Jet now had a fist sized hole in his chest, the only thing that kept him from dying instantly was the fact that Umbra's attack had cauterized the wound, preventing bleeding and sealing up any openings. The freedom fighter fell to his knees gasping for air, so surprised of what happened that he hadn't even dropped the weapons he had planned on using against them. Jin ran to Zuko and hugged him while hiding her face from the horrible sight.

"It's ok… we're ok." Zuko smiled as he held her close.

"No…. no you're… NOT!" Jet gasped as he used the last of his strength to pull out a control switch. "You… you will DIE!" He laughed as he flipped the switch. Everyone steadied themselves as the ground began to shake. Zuko grabbed the dying maniac and shook him.

"What did you do?" The Firelord snarled. Jet didn't answer; it had taken the last of his strength to flip the switch.

"Um… guys? Can you feel that?" Lhikan asked.

"Feel what?" Jin asked apprehensively.

"All that energy under us." Lhikan explained. Suddenly everything clicked in Zuko's mind.

"Oh, no." He said. Then, without explanation he started hurrying everyone out of the room.

"Wait… what's up?" Mai asked as she put Umbra in his wheelchair and pushed him out.

"I think that they set up an explosive of some sort on the other side of the palace." Zuko explained. "And that bomb set off a chain reaction underneath us."

"You mean…" Mai gasped.

"Yes…" Zuko answered. "The volcano is going to erupt."

…

Katara and Sokka ran out of the village after Matoro and Shadow. This was easier than it sounds because Matoro had intentionally led Shadow farther away from the village and they had left a wave of destruction in their wake. Katara stopped to catch her breath as her father and several waterbenders from the village caught up.

"What's going on?" Hakoda asked. Katara was about to answer when a glowing portal opened before them. Sokka groaned, he had seen this kind of portal before.

"Not more of them!" He said in frustration as he readied his club. The other warriors prepared as five figures appeared in the portal. They were all dressed in brightly colored armor and carried strange weapons on their backs and belts. One of them with bright red hair stepped forward and looked at the humans curiously.

"More of what?" He asked.

…

Toph could see nothing. She was suspended from the ground in a wooden cage. This made it very annoying when she wasn't even sure if the people who kidnapped her were in the room. She discovered that it was very hard to insult people who might not be there. It didn't help that the only one that talked was the Dark Hunter Devastator. It was only because he was talking that she knew that there were more than him in the room at times. He liked to brag and it was obvious at times that he was not talking to her.

"Hey!" She yelled. "Can't someone at least tell me why I'm still around?" no one answered. Then someone threw something at the cage.

"Will you give it a rest?" A female voice snarled, obviously not the Dark Hunter. "It's nerve wracking enough waiting for that nut to come back."

"I still don't think that this was a good idea." Another similar voice answered. "You saw what that kid did back in Ba-Sin-Se. What do you think he'll do to us after finding us?"

"He'll never find us." The other voice answered.

"Oh yes he will." Came a deep voice accompanied by a door closing, the dark hunter was back. "I made sure of it."

"Are you mad?" One of the female voices asked. "He'll kill us!"

"You perhaps… but I could take him." Devastator bragged. Just then the door opened.

"Really… I'd like to see that." My heart skipped a beat when I recognized the voice… it was Solek.

…

Solek

I walked in on an opportune moment. I mean, a story-told-around-a-fire-by-a-Turaga-perfect-moment. Devastator had just leaned back and said…

"You perhaps… but I could take him." I guessed that the "him" in question was me and grinned.

"Really… I'd like to see that." I smiled. Devastator actually jumped in shock before turning to face me. It hadn't taken me long to find them. The obvious clues helped but they also hadn't even moved out of the city. Devastator moved to crush me but froze again, seeing what was behind me.

"No…" He said with disbelief. "That's not possible."

"Oh… this?" I said pointing at the massive hulk of angry metal behind me. "This is just a good friend of mine… his name is Tank." Tank snorted and charged past me. Devastator was slammed out of the back wall and into the backyard of the empty house they had been hiding in. I looked at the two fire nation assassin twins and smiled.

"Leave… or die." I said simply. They threw their hands up in the air and walked out.

"Can't miss out on a chance like that." One of them said.

"Thanks kid… we owe you." The other admitted as they left.

"Yes… yes you do." I agreed as I walked over to the winch and lowered the cage. The second it was on the ground pieces of earth came up and smashed the cage open. Toph stepped out and wiggled her bare toes on the ground in happiness.

"Ahh… I can see again." She said with a smile. "Now… was there something I wanted to do? Oh, yes…" with that her smile turned into a snarl as she turned on me and yelled in my face. "One… what took you so long? Two… how DARE you run away from me? And Three… HOW DARE YOU RUN AWAY!" I shuddered and seemed to shrink before her wrath. The sounds of the battle outside began to sound safer than the enraged earthbender in front of me.

"I… I… I… I…" I stuttered.

"YOU WHAT?" Toph snarled loudly.

"I… I didn't want to hurt you." I admitted. Toph seemed to sense that I was suffering so she stopped glaring at me and nodded that I should continue. Happy that I had at least a few second left to live I decided to do just that. "Toph… I love you… but I've seen what I can do with my powers can do. I don't want you caught up in the middle of it." A loud crash from outside broke the rather obvious silence. Toph turned outside and yelled.

"Excuse me… WE'RE TALKING IN HERE!" She bellowed. A rather shamefaced Tank looked up from pounding Devastator and whimpered apologetically. "It's ok Tank… just keep it down." She smiled before turning back to me. I was utterly surprised when she ran up and kissed me. "Solek… I was so worried about you." She said as she held me close.

"But I am the most powerful person in this universe." I pointed out. I got jabbed in the ribs for that one.

"Yes… but I wanted you for me." She admitted as I was gasping for breath. "I've grown so used to you being in my life that I didn't want it to end." I sighed. I realized that in wanting to keep her safe I had actually hurt her more than I would have if I had stayed and destroyed the city.

"I am so sorry Toph… it's just not safe for me to be here." I said as I hugged her back. "Not until I get my powers under control."

"I understand that." Toph said. "But why can't I come with you." I stood stock still in shock. Why hadn't I thought of that?

"Um… no reason, I guess." I answered. "Well now I feel silly." Toph smiled and held my hand as we walked out of the building. "What should we tell your parents?" I asked.

"Oh, they won't mind… as long as we do one thing first." She smiled. She pulled me along with as we walked away from the house she had just been held in. We were followed by a happy Tank dragging a very roughed up Devastator.

…

The next day Iroh found a note sitting on his counter in the Jade Dragon. It was from Solek.

Dear Iroh,

By the time you are reading this we will be long gone. We… that is, Toph and I… decided that, after beating Devastator into a pulp we needed to do something about him. We decided to take him to the best prison we knew of, Kyoshi Island. We are taking Tank, Appa and Momo with us and will miss you immensely while we are gone. We also left a similar letter at Toph's parents so that they won't worry about us. Don't worry about us, we should be fine. We also plan to travel the world a bit after we drop Devastator off, you know, see more of it (in my case anyway) than I got to see before. I really would like to know more about this world.

Much love and good wishes, Solek and Toph

PS: Oh… and Toph said something about "eloping". I'm not sure what it means but she seemed excited about it. She also said something about Kyoshi being a good place for a "honeymoon", whatever that is. I expect that I will find out eventually. I just hope that it isn't painful. Gosh, I wish I understood you organics.

Iroh read the letter and chuckled at the ending. He smiled and sat back in a chair.

"It wouldn't be as much fun if you did understand us." He said as he got back up and began to prepare for a day of serving tea, his happy ending made even more joyful by the fact that two others had just reached their happy beginning together.

…

Matoro drew back and gasped for breath. The fight with Shadow was not going well. The Shadow form snarled as it healed up its body with what little shadow energy there was. The two of them circled slowly, neither wanting to give the other an advantage. Finally they clashed again, the two drawing closer and closer in a last ditch effort to kill the other. Finally Matoro saw his chance; he dodged down and stabbed upward. There was a strangled gasp and a thump. Matoro looked up to see Shadow's head fall off of his body. The body slowly disintegrated away. Matoro sat up and sighed… it was over.

"Nice try." Shadow's head said. "But not good enough!" With that his body began to reform faster than Matoro could react.

"What does it take to kill you?" Matoro asked, frustrated beyond belief.

"More than one Toa could ever have." Shadow smiled.

"How about six Toa?" A voice rang out. Matoro and Shadow turned to see five figures standing in protodermis armor. It took a moment but they recognized the five of them at the same time.

"Jaller? Kongu? Hahli? Nuparu? Hewkii?" Matoro asked in shock.

"Oh Rahkshi spit." Shadow growned.

* * *

Well this story is almost over. I would only expect one or two more chapters for this story. That will give me more time to work on WOF. By the way… if you like this universe then you should check out "Crime of Shadows" by Zivon96. He's writing what looks to be an interesting story that will take place after the main portion of this story. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.


	8. Reunions

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Ok, yes… it has been a long time since I've updated. And I apologize for that. My excuse is that I spent a good portion of this summer in Australia and the rest busy with work. I will be updating Warrior of Fire ASAP as well as "Be all our sins remembered". Again, I apologize for the slowness of my updates and ask you to be understanding as I try to balance my last year at college with my love of writing. Please read and review and it's good to be back.

* * *

Reunions

Shadow was good, he was after all a shadow form, but he wasn't good enough to take on five fully realized Toa. As he tried to fly away he was smacked back down to earth by Nuparu. Turning to run he was pelted by chunks of ice sent flying his way by Hewkii, who kicked them with perfect accuracy. Turning to fight he found himself facing Jaller. Shadow knew it was over, there was no way that he could live through this. He only had one shot.

"Just get it over with!" He snarled.

"Gladly," Jaller snarled. "But I know that killing you won't be as easy as you want us to believe."

"It won't?" Shadow asked, worried that they might have figured out something that he didn't want them to.

"Nope, it's going to take all six of us," With that all five of the others came up, even though Hahli was helping Matoro along. The waterbenders watched in awe as the six Toa put their fists together. Their eyes began to glow as Jaller spoke.

"With the power of unity we banish you from existence… go and trouble Matoro no more!" Jaller commanded. Shadow moved faster than anyone thought he could and tried to stab Matoro.

"No, I will have my… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screeched as a beam of energy shot from the combined fists of the Toa Ignika. The energy began to glow as it covered him. He continued to swear unspeakable obesities as the energy covered him. Finally the energy covered him entirely. It was then the Toa brought up their hands again and shattered it. However, this time there was no Shadow.

"Wow…" Sokka exclaimed in the silence that followed. As if his voice broke the spell everyone began taking at once. The Toa Ignika quickly gathered around Matoro and gave him what can only be described as a group hug. Katara walked up and pulled them apart to give him a hug of her own.

"Is he really gone?" She asked.

"He should be," Jaller smiled. "Matoro, who is this?" Matoro gave Katara a kiss and smiled at his old friends.

"That is a very long story…"

…

Lhikan pushed the others out of the palace as fast as he can.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" he insisted. "You need to get out NOW!"

"What about you?" Mai asked.

"No time to explain, GET OUT!" Lhikan ordered as he pushed them out of the palace. After they were out Zuko took over ushering the pregnant women and Umbra out of the area. Lhikan knew that they were not fast enough. He turned around and ran towards the center of the palace. The floors were already beginning to set on fire. Lhikan stood and took a deep breath… this was going to be difficult.

…

Umbra awoke to find himself being pushed as fast as possible down the ramp to the Fire Nation Capital.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Volcano exploding, we need to move," Mai said with what little breath she could spare. Down in the town people were panicking and trying to get out of the city as fast as possible. Suddenly there was a low rumble and the ground began to shake. The quake caused Umbra to fall out of his wheelchair, this meant that he was flat on his back and had a perfect view of what happened next. Lhikan was rising up into the air with the volcano erupting all around him. His shield kept the lava from reaching him, but it wouldn't hold for long. Lhikan's eyes were covered with a strange white energy as he gestured at the lava and the brought his hands up. To the surprise of everyone there the lava stopped flowing towards the town and started heading for the diminutive Warrior of Fire. Lhikan swirled the lava around him in ever growing circles as more of it poured out of the volcano. Finally it seemed that there was no more lava. Lhikan took a deep breath and slowly began to siphon out all of the heat from the ball of melted death that surrounded him. Even as a Toa of Fire Lhikan was sweating from the heat, and as the heat was transferred to his body he began to glow. Finally the lava was turned into rock, all of the heat drained from it. Everyone was quiet in shock as there was a moment of silence. Then everyone jumped as a massive pillar of flame shot out from the center of the rock, shattering it into dust. The pillar shot up into the air until Lhikan had used up all of the heat that he had gathered. The exhausted Toa fell to the ground with a thud. After helping Umbra back up Zuko ran over and helped him up.

"Are you ok?" Zuko asked.

"I… I think so," Lhikan smiled as he brushed a small trail of blood away from below his nose. "Did it work?"

"I think it did." Zuko said in amazement. "Do I even want to know how impossible what you just did was?"

"No, probably not." Lhikan smiled before passing out.

…

By the time Matoro had finished telling his story the entire room was silent in awe. Kongu shook his head and slapped Matoro across the back.

"Always knew you had it in you." He smiled.

"We all did." Hahli agreed. Matoro smiled, it was good to see his old team.

"So how did you guys get here?" He asked.

"Brutaka sent us." Hewkii grinned. "He didn't want to come himself though, something about having enough of all that organic trouble last time."

"So wait… how are you getting back?"

"He promised to come pick us back up in a month." Nuparu said, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head.

"That's great!" Matoro grinned. "A whole month to spend with you guys is much more than I ever could have hoped for."

"There is one thing I want to do," Jaller confessed. "I kinda brought something for Lhikan, do you think we can see him?"

"I should be able to arrange that." Matoro said, "Plus, I want you guys to see as much of this world as possible in the time you are here."

…

Lhikan awoke to see Ty Lee's face a mere three inches away from his. They were both silent for a moment, until Lhikan blinked.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Ty Lee gushed as she grabbed the diminutive Toa in a hug. All that Lhikan could do was gasp for air before he was thrown back on the bed and found Ty Lee's finger in his face.

"Um… Ty?"

"Shut up!" Ty Lee said sternly, in a complete switch from a moment before. "Do you have any idea how long you've been out?"

"A hour?" Lhikan guessed.

"Two… whole… weeks!" Ty Lee said loudly, punctuating each word with a poke to Lhikan's nose.

"Two… two weeks!" Lhikan said in honest shock. "I was out that long?"

"Yes, do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought you might not wake up." Ty Lee said, sadly putting her hand on his shoulder. "Do… do you know what that did to me?"

"I… I'm sorry." Lhikan said, not quite sure how any of this was his fault, "What's happened while I was gone?"

"Well," Ty Lee smiled. "Toph and Solek showed up, they eloped…"

"What's eloped?"

"Don't interrupt," Ty Lee scolded. "Toph helped rebuild the Palace and even agreed to make a statue in your honor."

"Wait… what?" Lhikan asked. Ty Lee pointed out the window with a grin. Lhikan ran over and looked out to see that he was in the center of a new palace complex. And smack dab in the middle of the gardens that were being planted was a stone statue of him. He was on his board, bending the lava around himself as the volcano erupted underneath.

"I asked them to make it look a little older than you do now, but Toph said no." Ty Lee said.

"How… how in the world do I deserve a statue?" Lhikan asked himself quietly.

"You've got one back home too, granted that one is about ten times the size and you're still a Bionicle in that one." A voice said. Lhikan turned around to see someone he never thought he would see again.

"Jaller?" He asked in surprise. "You're here?"

"Yeah, Brutaka let us come here to say hi to Matoro."

"He really let you?" Lhikan asked.

"Let us, agreed to under threat of beating, same thing really." Jaller joked with a smile that made it clear that it was most likely the latter that was true.

"He should have known better, there are few bonds as strong as a team of Toa." Lhikan smiled in return as he fist bumped the Toa of Fire. "Welcome brother, it is good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Jaller said as he brought something out of a bag at his side. "I even managed to bring you something to remind you of home. Lhikan was about to ask what it was when he recognized the shape of the object through its cloth wrappings.

"Is… is that…" He stuttered as he reached out for it. Jaller nodded quietly as he handed it over. Lhikan reverently unwrapped it to reveal his mask. Ty Lee was dazzled by the golden object as it glimmered in the sunlight.

"What is it?" She asked.

"My mask of power." Lhikan said with a touch of pride and remembrance in his voice, "The object that gave me the power of shielding back in my world."

"So this was your face? Who'd of known that you were as good looking as a Bionicle as you are as a human." Ty Lee teased. Lhikan sputtered in objection as Jaller laughed.

"Lhikan, since when did you become a ladies man?"

"I'm NOT" Lhikan insisted, "my body won't even reach physical maturity for another fourteen years in this world."

"But your mind is ancient." Ty Lee noted.

"Well, yeah, I guess." Lhikan agreed. He then looked at the mask again and smiled. "Thank you for bringing this to be Jaller, it… it means a lot to me."

"No problem." The Toa of Fire smiled.

"How are things back home?" Lhikan asked.

"Well, that's a funny story…" Jaller smiled. "Turns out that we played right into Makuta's plans…"

…

While Jaller caught Lhikan up on current events the other Toa were being treated like heroes, that is to say, Zuko threw them a party. Hahli spent most her time talking to Mai and Katara about what it was like being an organic.

"So… little organics come out of… down there?" She asked in shock. "And they're a combination of you and your husband?"

"Supposedly." Matoro grinned as he joined the group and put his arm around Katara. "But I don't think that's going to happen for a while for us." The silence after his remark surprised him.

"Um… hunny?" Katara grinned as she took his hand. "I'm kinda going to have a baby."

"Wait… what?" Matoro said in shock. "I'm going to be a…"

"A father, yes." Katara grinned. "In about eight and a half months."

"Congratulations!" Hahli smiled as she hugged the two of them.

"At least you're not having twins." Mai said with a sigh, looking at her swollen belly.

"Isn't two better?" Hahli asked.

"Well, yeah… but it's harder too." Mai said. She then launched into an explanation of childbirth; with Toph jumping in if she thought that the descriptions weren't graphic enough. Matoro gestured to Katara and the two walked away from the crowd.

"What's up?" Katara asked.

"Do… do you think I'm ready to be a father?" Matoro asked worriedly.

"As ready as anyone else is." Katara said as she hugged him. "No one is every really ready for parenthood."

"Well, if I do have to face it… then I'm glad it's with you." Matoro said as he kissed his wife on the forehead.

"I agree, but you missed." Katara smiled as she kiss her husband back. They stood and looked at the stars for quite a while before they were joined by the others. Zuko and Jin, Solek and Toph, Umbra and Mai, Jaller and Halhi, even Kongu and Nuparu managed to have two of Ty Lee's sisters giving them googly eyes. Although Hewkii politely declined, explaining he had someone waiting back home. The realization that they were also going back home convinced the other two to begrudgingly let the girls go on their way. Lhikan watched the stars from his window with Ty Lee as the others began to go to their beds for the night. He looked at his mask and glanced quickly at Ty Lee before smiling up at the stars.

"I don't think I've been happier." He admitted.

"Me nether." Ty Lee agreed.


	9. Tidings of the future

Tidings of the future

"Happy Birthday Ty Lee!" the guests cried out. Ty Lee blushed under all of the attention, but she did deserve it. It was her twentieth birthday. The party had been going for about an hour and it seemed as if all of the guests were here. Her father had insisted on using the house on Ember Island for the party. Ty Lee's looked over the crowd so that she could mentally place all of the guests. She smiled and waved to the Kyoshi Warriors who had become her closest friends in the past few years. Her smile disappeared slightly as she noticed her sisters. She didn't hate them… she just found it very hard to feel special while they were around. Her smile shot back up as she passed over Umbra and Mai. The two of them had their hands full with their twins Lee and Ivy. Ivy was practically bouncing in her seat while Lee was using his control of shadows to snag extra pieces of cake when he thought his mother wasn't looking. In contrast Ursa, Zuko and Jin's daughter, was sitting calmly with her parents. Ty Lee's father leaned over and smiled at her.

"So… how are you enjoying the party?" He asked.

"It's great Dad." Ty Lee said happily. "I just wish that my other friends could be here."

"Well you know that Matoro and Katara would be here if they could, they just wanted to stay home with little Kya, she's sick." Suki said as she walked up and gave the birthday girl a hug. "Sokka too if he wasn't he about to go through the ceremony to take over the leadership of the Southern Water Tribe."

"Suki!" Ty Lee squealed as she returned the hug. "Did you bring Kanna?"

"I sure did." Suki smiled as she motioned for her daughter to join them. "I wasn't about to leave her at home with her father while I visited Kyoshi. The last time I did that I returned to find half the house destroyed and my 'sweet little girl' running around with a modified Skyblaster that her father was teaching her how to use." Ty Lee smiled and winked at the young girl.

"Like father like daughter." She laughed. "Although I have to say that the one I'm most worried about being destructive is theirs." Ty Lee pointed to where a slightly rounding Toph was having a cake eating contest with Solek, much to the embarrassment of the high ranking fire nation nobles present.

"They certainly are a unique pair." Suki agreed. "I had better slow them down before Solek gets to excited and blows the place up." She joked as she walked over to the youngest couple at the party. Kanna had migrated over to Ursa and the two were talking like the good friends they were. Ty Lee's thoughts about how there was still one person unaccounted for were interrupted as her mother leaned over.

"You know Ty Lee… you are the only one of your friends who hasn't gotten married yet." Ty Lee's smile disappeared as her father joined in.

"Yes… now that you're twenty it only seems proper that you settle down, start a family."

"Mom, Dad… I thought that you promised that you'd let me make my own decisions!" Ty Lee objected. "I guess that the abundance of young men that somehow made their way onto my invitations list was your doing." Ty Lee said as she pointed to the ten or twelve men who were hovering just out of striking range from most of the girls at the party, a wise decision, although one of them did make a pass at Suki and end up flat out on his back with a bloody nose.

"Dear… they are all sons of wealthy and powerful members of the court." Her mother tried to soothe her.

"Does that really matter that much?" Ty Lee asked irately. "Look, you bother me most of the time with this stuff anyway. Can't I have my birthday off?" She asked.

"Dear… it's because that it's your birthday that we must talk to you." Her father said sternly. "Most of your sisters have at least accepted suitors. It isn't seen as normal for a girl as pretty as you to be single after your EIGHTEENTH birthday."

"So… these aren't just attempts to get me around guys…" Ty Lee started.

"No… these are the suitors that your mother and I have picked out for you." Her father confessed. "If you have not picked one by the end of the evening then we will have to pick one for you."

"That is so unfair!" Ty Lee steamed as she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Her mother asked.

"To clear my head…" Ty Lee mumbled as she walked back into the house.

…

Ty Lee walked to the balcony outside of her room. She stood and looked down at the party, watching as the guests continued to mingle and chat.

"How could my parents do this to me?" She wondered aloud.

"Do what?" Ty Lee jumped and took a fighting pose as she turned to face the voice. Her fear and anger disappeared instantaneously as she recognized the speaker.

"Lhikan!" She cheered as she ran towards him, stopping herself as she remembered that he didn't like hugs. She was surprised when he took the last few steps and hugged her himself. "Why Lhikan… I never thought you would hug me." Ty Lee said with a happy blush.

"Yeah… well… I figured that the birthday girl deserved it." Lhikan said with a smile. He had grown in the past six years. He was now only a few inches shorter than Ty Lee. His spindly arms and legs were showing signs that they would soon develop into muscular cords of steel. Ty Lee smiled as she looked at his red hair.

"I see you still like it short." She joked, remembering the first time that Lhikan had needed a haircut.

"I see you still like to wear pink." Lhikan retaliated.

"What other color is there?" Ty Lee laughed.

"So… what are you doing up here during your party?" Lhikan asked. Ty Lee's smile fell.

"I had an argument with my parents; they're trying to control my life again." She said bitterly.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Lhikan said. There was a moment of silence as the two looked anywhere but at the other. Then Lhikan snapped his fingers. "Hey! I know what will cheer you up!"

"What?" Ty Lee asked.

"Your birthday present!" Lhikan smiled as he brought a package from behind his back.

"You got me something?" Ty Lee squealed excitedly.

"Well, duh. It is your birthday." Lhikan said with a raised eyebrow. "Human tradition dictates that…"

"Oh just give it here!" Ty Lee laughed. She tore through the paper until the light from the torches caught the gift and it glimmered. Ty Lee stopped unwrapping it. She could only see a small part of the gift but there was no mistaking it, it was a metallic gold and very smooth to the touch. She slowly took off the rest of the paper and stared at Lhikan's mask, the one that Jaller had brought back to him, the one he had worn in his old world.

"Well, do you like it?" Ty Lee looked up at the grinning Lhikan in shock.

"Lhikan… this… this is your mask," Was all she could say.

"Was my mask, I don't actually need it anymore." He said with a slight blush. "And… it is kind of slowing me down, with the amount of room it takes up in my bag and everything…" Ty Lee blinked, was Lhikan rambling? He was! She knew as well as he did that his mask was the last connection that he had with the world of Bionicle. In short, it was his birthright. And he was giving it to her! Ty Lee felt a warmth begin to rise in her chest, no matter what her parents had said, no matter how many people she had to toss off the balcony for getting to fresh with her tonight she knew in her heart that it was this, this moment, that she would remember.

"Lhikan… thank you so much!" She said as she hugged him close. She could feel him stiffen in shock and then force himself to relax and hug her back. When they separated they were both blushing.

"Well, I had better go… Umbra needs to talk to me." Lhikan said as he looked at his feet shyly.

"Aw… do you really have to go? We could just hang out here" Ty Lee asked sadly.

"Yeah… sorry, he said it was important." Lhikan mumbled.

"Well, at least you can let me thank you for the gift." Ty Lee smiled. Before the surprised Toa of Fire could do anything Ty Lee had skipped forward and kissed him on the cheek. With the color of his cheeks rivaling his hair Lhikan quietly walked down the stairs. Ty Lee smiled as she watched him leaving. In a few moments her parents came up and found her.

"Dear… it's time." Her mother said quietly. "You need to pick a suitor."

"I already have." Ty Lee smiled as she followed Lhikan with her eyes as he walked over to Umbra.

"Really?" Her father said as he shared a look with his wife. "Who?"

"Oh… you'll find out." She smiled.

"I'm sorry dear but that won't work," Her father frowned. "And how is it possible that you picked someone? All of your choices are down at the party."

"He is down there; he's just not on your list." Ty Lee said with a bit of edge in her voice.

"Who?" Her mother pushed.

"It doesn't matter who! You need to pick someone from OUR list, not some random guy off the streets!" Her father said.

"He's not some random guy off the streets!" Ty Lee objected. "You've actually met him before."

"But the only single men here are on our list." Her mother insisted.

"Well, this one wasn't." Ty Lee said with a pout. "He decided to come anyway."

"Ty…" Her father started.

"No, no… I will not pick a husband tonight!" Ty Lee yelled at her parents. "Can't you just be happy to know that there is someone I love?" She asked.

"No we cannot… what is that you are holding?" Her father asked, suddenly noticing the golden mask in Ty Lee's hands.

"It's… nothing, a present," Ty Lee said as she smiled at it, "A very special present."

…

"No… I can't take this." Lhikan said as he shook his head. He and Umbra had been talking a long time. So long in fact that Jin, Mai and Suki had left to put the children to bed.

"Look, the guy was very insistent. He said that you would need it." Umbra insisted.

"How do we know that you didn't just have a crazy dream?" Lhikan asked as he raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"He, knew things… like the Toa Ignika coming, he told me about the defeat of Shadow, even the powers of my kids. He knew a lot." Umbra said quietly.

"But… to ask me to do this… why?" Lhikan asked.

"I don't know. All I know is I'm not asking you to use it, just carry it. It would probably be safer with you than at the bottom of the waves anyway." Umbra shrugged. Lhikan looked at the package in his hand, he could feel the heat emanating from the Nui stone inside.

"Alright… I'll carry it… but I refuse to use it." Lhikan said firmly as he placed it in his pack.

"That's all I ask," Umbra smiled, "So… how are things between you and Ty Lee?"

"What?" Lhikan jumped, "Why did you ask?"

"Partially to see you react like that," Umbra chuckled.

"You've certainly lightened up of late," Lhikan grumbled. "I think I liked you better when you didn't talk as much."

"What can I say… being a father changes things," Umbra laughed, "And I all really wanted to know was how you're doing with her 'marriage problem'."

"What marriage problem?" Lhikan asked, all pretences of not being interested gone. "Wait… she said her parents were trying to control her again… was that what she meant?" Umbra nodded.

"Yup, rumor is that all of the 'eligible young men' that are here tonight are because her parents wanted her to pick a husband."

"Why I outta…" Lhikan snarled.

"Whoa, for someone who doesn't have an opinion you sure have an opinion." Solek joked as he sat down and put an arm around the young Toa of Fire. He immediately regretted it because the news had made Lhikan's normally warm body heat go up a few notches to uncomfortably scorching.

"How can you just sit here? She's your friend too!" Lhikan complained as he forced himself to calm down and lower his body heat.

"Who says we're just sitting here?" Solek smiled. "Haven't you noticed that the kids have been taken away for bed?"

"Well, yeah."

"And how the Kyoshi Warriors have all conveniently disappeared?"

"Yeah… where are you going with this?" Lhikan frowned.

"We decided to help Ty Lee escape." Umbra smiled. "We had all of the kids and Toph go over to Mai and I's house so that they wouldn't get hurt if there was any backlash."

"Toph was not happy about that." Solek interrupted, smiling glumly as he rubbed his side. "She hates being left out of stuff like this."

"We also had the Kyoshi Warriors go out and prepare a boat just off shore so that, once Ty Lee's gotten away, she can travel with them to Kyoshi Island," Umbra finished as he frowned at Solek. "All we need is someone to save her." There was a moment of silence as Lhikan realized what they were asking him.

"Wait… you do realize that I'll be making some very powerful enemies in the Fire Nation, right?" Lhikan asked.

"Her parents maybe, but your status as national hero for stopping that volcano from wiping out the capital should keep you safe." Zuko said as he walked up. "Plus, being a personal friend of the Fire Lord has its advantages."

"I should have known you'd all be in on this," Lhikan shook his head. "Ok, I'll do it. I just want to know what you would have done if I hadn't come tonight."

"We knew you wouldn't miss it," Solek grinned.

"You don't know that." Lhikan grumbled halfheartedly as he walked away. Solek turned to the others and grinned.

"Yeah, we did."

…

Ty Lee sat at her mirror snarling at her image, her 'conversation' with her parents had not gone well. They had gone off to get the pre-picked suitors for her to go over before choosing one. At a sudden sound at the window she turned to see Lhikan standing on his lava board.

"Get on," He said with a gesture.

"Wait… what?" Ty Lee asked, not really because she objected to the idea but because it seemed to come out of left field.

"I… I heard what your parents were planning to do to you." Lhikan explained. "So I decided to help you out."

"You realize that I could just climb down the wall all by myself, right?" Ty Lee asked.

"That's what I told them, but NO, I had to be the one to do it." Lhikan grumbled.

"Wait… that's what you told who?"

"Zuko, Umbra and Solek," Lhikan explained. "It was them who came up with the plan. I'm just the one who's supposed to fly you out to the Kyoshi warriors' boat."

"Oh, well that makes much more sense than all of the plans that I've come up with tonight," Ty Lee said as she got up and began packing. However, she stopped before she had gotten very far.

"What's wrong, we need to go!" Lhikan said urgently. "We don't know how long your parents will take before they come back."

"I just need to know something…" Ty Lee said as she walked over and took Lhikan's hands in hers. "Lhikan… would you have done this even if they hadn't made a plan before hand?"

"Yes," Lhikan said, slightly worried. "Why?"

"Then… do you lo… lov…" Ty Lee stuttered, finding it hard to say the word that she wanted to say so much. "Do you love me?" She forced out. Lhikan took a step back, almost falling off of the balcony in the process.

"Do… do I…" he stuttered. Ty Lee froze in fear, had she done it again? Had she gone too fast again? Memories of Matoro rushed through her head as she looked at Lhikan waiting for some sign of disapproval. She was shocked when she found none. Instead there was just fear, and uncertainty. Suddenly the door opened as Ty Lee's parents came back in followed by the twelve young men. Ty Lee wasted no time jumping up next to Lhikan.

"Fly!" She called out. Lhikan was broken out of his stupor and took off just before Ty Lee's father would have grabbed her arm. The two of them flew off into the night. Ty Lee's heart was filled with guilt as she heard her parents cry out in shock and anger; she really did love her parents. And she knew that they really loved her. However, they needed to know that her life was her own.

…

Lhikan landed on the Kyoshi Warrior's ship, both he and Ty Lee had been quiet the entire trip. The Warriors came up and helped Ty Lee off the board. Ty Lee started to walk away when she felt herself forcibly turned around and was surprised to find herself in a hug. When Lhikan broke the hug he looked at his feet, blushing horribly.

"Look…" He started, trying to explain something that he wasn't sure he knew how to explain. "I like you, a lot… but I… I'm not ready for something like love." Ty Lee looked at him in surprise, he liked her that much?

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Oh Mata Nui, I'm not very good at this," Lhikan groaned. "It's just that… It's only been six years since I had to… you know." Ty Lee realized that he was talking about the battle with Tuyet. She softened up when she realized that it must have messed him up pretty badly to have to take her down twice.

"I understand." She smiled as she put her hand on Lhikan's shoulder. "You just need more time." Lhikan nodded.

"Thanks for being ok with it." He said, relieved.

"Oh, no… I said I understand, not that I'm ok with it." Ty Lee corrected him. Before Lhikan could react she pulled him into a kiss. A few seconds later she separated and smiled at his shocked face.

"Now…" She said, smiling. "Whenever you start thinking about Tuyet remember that there are other girls out there, and that there's more where that kiss came from in this little pink bundle of joy." Lhikan gulped and took off before he could say anything else that might betray him. Ty Lee watched as he flew off. She had waited six years, and she would wait another six if she had to.

…

Lhikan flew back long enough to let Umbra know that the plan had worked. And then he was off like a shot. In a few short hours he was as far away from the fire nation as possible, pushing his limit of how fast and far he could fly. He didn't stop until he reached the southern water tribe a week later. Matoro was taking a morning walk when he found Lhikan sitting on an iceberg looking out over the ocean.

"Hey Lhikan… when did you get here?" Matoro asked.

"Ten minutes ago," Lhikan said quietly. "Hey Matoro… can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think it's possible to be thousands of years old and yet still have no way to understand how women work?"

"Are you kidding?" Matoro laughed. "We'd need several thousand millennia to come anywhere close to that knowledge."

"Ok… just checking." Lhikan said with a sigh. Matoro stood next to him and the two watched the sun rise over the ocean, thinking back to everything that had happened to them. Sokka walked up and stood next to them.

"Hi, Lhikan, morning Matoro. What'cha looking at?" He asked.

"Nothing." Matoro said as he turned away. "Just searching for some peace and quiet, I haven't had a good night's sleep since little Kya came down with the flu."

"Ah, yes… kids do that every now and then." Sokka laughed. "Annoying, but I still wouldn't trade them for the world."

"Yeah… same here," Matoro said with a smile. "It's little things like her that made the first few years here very interesting."

"You can say that again." Lhikan said with a slight smile.

The end… until Warrior of Fire

* * *

Well, I hoped you liked it. Please review and don't worry, Warrior of Fire will be updated in the next few days if not hours.

_ToaofIce_


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